On Guerrilla Warfare (United States Marine Corps translation)/Translator's Note
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE
IN JULY, 1941, the undeclared war between China and Japan will enter its fifth year. One of the most significant features of the struggle has been the organization of the Chinese people for unlimited guerrilla warfare. The development of this warfare has followed the pattern laid out by Mao Tse-tung and his collaborators in the pamphlet Yu Chi Chan (Guerrilla Warfare), which was published in 1937 and has been widely distributed in "Free China" at 10 cents a copy.
Mao Tse-tung, a member of the Chinese Communist Party and formerly political commissar of the Fourth Red Army, is no novice in the art of war. Actual battle experience with both regular and guerrilla troops has qualified him as an expert.
The influence of the ancient military philosopher Sun Tzu on Mao's military thought will be apparent to those who have read The Book of War. Sun Tzu wrote that speed, surprise, and deception were the primary essentials of the attack and his succinct advice, "Sheng Tung, Chi Hsi" ("Uproar [in the] East, Strike [in the] West"), is no less valid today than it was when he wrote it 2,400 years ago. The tactics of Sun Tzu are in large measure the tactics of China's guerrillas today.
Mao says that unlimited guerrilla warfare, with vast time and space factors, established a new military process. This seems a true statement since there are no other historical examples of guerrilla hostilities as thoroughly organized from the military, political, and economic point of view as those in China. We in the Marine Corps have as yet encountered nothing but relatively primitive and strictly limited guerrilla war. Thus, what Mao has written of this new type of guerrilla war may be of interest to us.
I have tried to present the author's ideas accurately, but as the Chinese language is not a particularly suitable medium for the expression of technical thought, the translation of some of the modern idioms not yet to be found in available dictionaries is probably arguable. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of retranslated quotations. I have taken the liberty to delete from the translation matter that was purely repetitious.
Samuel B. Griffith
Captain, USMC
1940